Click2History - America in World War II - Chapter 1 - Preface

<body link="0000ff" alink="ff0000" vlink="000000" bgcolor=000033> <table width="100%" bgcolor=000033> <tr> <td align=center valign=top><table width=90% bgcolor=ffffff cellpadding=5> <tr> <td align=center valign=top><div align=center><p><b><font face="arial, helvetica" size=5 color=000000><b>AMERICA IN WORLD WAR II:</p> <p>THE FORGOTTEN POSTERS</b></font></p>  <table width="590"> <tr> <td align="CENTER" valign="top" bgcolor="000000" colspan=2><font face="ARIAL, HELVETICA" size="3" color="FFFFFF"><b>STORY CHAPTER LINKS</b></font></td> </tr> <tr> <td align=center valign=top width=50%>  <table width="100%" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="5" border="0"> <tr> <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP"><font face="ARIAL, HELVETICA" size="2"><b><a href="forgotten_posters_ch1.htm">1. STORY PREFACE</a></b></font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP" width="50%"><font face="ARIAL, HELVETICA" size="2"><b><a href="forgotten_posters_ch2.htm">2. BUY WAR BONDS!</a></b></font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP" width="50%"><font face="ARIAL, HELVETICA" size="2"><b><a href="forgotten_posters_ch3.htm">3. AMERICAN WOMEN AT WAR</a></b></font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP"><font face="ARIAL, HELVETICA" size="2"><b><a href="forgotten_posters_ch4.htm">4. PRODUCTION SOLDIERS AT HOME</a></b></font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP"><font face="ARIAL, HELVETICA" size="2"><b><a href="forgotten_posters_ch5.htm">5. "GIVE US MORE!"</a></b></font> </td> </tr> </table>  </td> <td align=center valign=top width=50%>  <table width=100% cellpadding=5 cellspacing=5 border=0> <tr> <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP"><font face="ARIAL, HELVETICA" size="2"><b><a href="forgotten_posters_ch6.htm">6. "WASTE NOTHING"</a></b></font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP"><font face="ARIAL, HELVETICA" size="2"><b><a href="forgotten_posters_ch7.htm">7. KEEP QUIET!</a></b></font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP"><font face="ARIAL, HELVETICA" size="2"><b><a href="forgotten_posters_ch8.htm">8. WHO WAS JOE DOPE?</a></b></font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP"><font face="ARIAL, HELVETICA" size="2"><b><a href="forgotten_posters_ch9.htm">9. "JENNY ON THE JOB"</a></b></font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="LEFT" valign="TOP"><font face="ARIAL, HELVETICA" size="2"><b><a href="forgotten_posters_ch10.htm">10. DON'T LET ME DOWN</a></b></font> </td> </tr> </table>  </td> </tr> </table>  <p><b><font size="3"><u><a name="preface">PREFACE</a></u></font></b></p> <div align=center><b><i><font face="Times New Roman" color="000000" size="3">Our <a href="http://media.nara.gov/media/images/18/6/18-0526a.gif" target="_blank">street corners</a> must not be next!</b></i><br><br> American World War II Poster</font><br><br> </div> <center> <table width="90%"> <td align="left" valign="top"> <div align="justify"> <p><font face="arial, helvetica" color="000000" size="3">Millions of photographs document the events of World War II. From President Roosevelt <a href="http://www.nara.gov/nara/nn/nns/ww201.jpg" target="_blank"><b>signing</b></a> the Declaration of War against Japan to General <a href="http://www.nara.gov/nara/nn/nns/ww204.jpg" target="_blank"><b>MacArthur</b></a> making good his promise, "I shall return," national archives and personal scrapbooks are filled with the pictorial record.</p> <p>Much less known, however, are the posters that dominated American life during the war. Created to <a href="http://media.nara.gov/media/images/17/18/17-1768a.gif" target="_blank"><b>encourage</b></a>, <a href="http://media.nara.gov/media/images/18/2/18-0112a.gif" target="_blank"><b>motivate</b></a> and <a href="http://media.nara.gov/media/images/18/2/18-0147a.gif" target="_blank"><b>caution</b></a> U.S. military and civilians, many of the posters also send <a href="http://media.nara.gov/media/images/18/2/18-0191a.gif" target="_blank"><b>strong messages</b></a>. Some historians have suggested they were America’s version of propaganda.</p> <p>From the Statue of Liberty in chains (with the subtitle "<a href="http://media.nara.gov/media/images/18/5/18-0427a.gif" target="_blank"><b>Never!</b></a>") to a <a href="http://media.nara.gov/media/images/17/15/17-1458a.gif" target="_blank"><b>suggestion</b></a> that "foxy foreign ideas brought poverty, suffering and defeat to Europe," posters reminded Americans what the fight was <a href="http://media.nara.gov/media/images/17/13/17-1293a.gif" target="_blank"><b>about</b></a> while they chided members of the military to maintain <a href="http://media.nara.gov/media/images/17/9/17-0860a.gif" target="_blank"><b>silence</b></a> about U.S. plans.</p> <p>NARA (America’s National Archives and Records Administration) houses a fantastic collection of war posters. Let’s take a virtual trip to view some of the more interesting examples.</p> </div> <p align="right"><font size="2"><a href="forgotten_posters_ch2.htm">GO TO CHAPTER 2</a></font></p><br>  </table>  </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table>  </body>